Montessori inspired by Dr. Seuss

What’s on the Tray Wednesday?

This week is Read across America week and Today is Dr. Seuss’s birthday.  I realize that it is not Wednesday but I wanted to display what Montessori works we did this week to celebrate Dr. Seuss.  We read Cat in the Hat, Cat in the Hat comes back, Barthalomew and the Oobleck, One fish two fish, red fish blue fish, The ABC book, Wacky Wednesday and the foot book. 

Here are some math works we did with One fish two fish.

I was inspired by this book to make fish math works. 

We practiced skip counting with Evan Moore’s Take it to your seat math centers.  Each fish has a number on them and you have to put them in order and then write down the numbers you counted. 

We sorted colored goldfish crackers.  After they were sorted the kids filled out a color graph.

Here is our sandpaper numbers again doing their job! The kids put the sandpaper numbers in order and then count the fish to match each number. Like I said in my math post, I use these every month with new counters.

I found these Dr. Seuss erasers in the dollar bins at Target and I LOVE them!!  We use them all the time.  This is a pattern work.  He is making ABC patterns. 

Here are my lovely little counters as a number line! Dr. Seuss counters and the sandpaper numbers again. 

I also got the cute little Dr. Seuss boxes in the dollar section of Target.

These are pictures of our Practical life work trays this week.

This is a magnet work.  I made magnetic pom poms by hot gluing magnets to them.   Put the card stock printable on a metal cookie sheet.   The kids match the pom poms to the dots on the picture.  Great for fine motor skills

Here is a Spoon transfer tray with ABC noodles. Transfer from left to right.  This work tray was inspired by the ABC book by Dr. Seuss. (sorry about the orientation of the picture, blogger is playing tricks on me today)

We made blue jello with Swedish red fish and had goldfish for snack.

Here is our Seuss inspired language works.

Our class theme this year is Dr. Seuss. This is our Seuss word wall.  The sight word cards are from here.  For this game, the kids all line up on one side of the room and I call out a sight word.  The kids each have a swat stick and they race to swap the word first.  They keep track of their points by making tally marks on an index card.

At family hats for the cat in the hat!

My team teacher made these for the kids and they were on trays for the kids to add beginning sounds to the at words.  I think they are adorable!

The tray on the top is a Dr. Seuss Rhyming work from Donna Glynn's Dr. Seuss pack. 

We practiced our word families.  I had just consonants in a basket with these cards on a tray and the kids had to use thinking skills to make new words.  With Lakeshore learning letter tiles

The tray  in the middle is full of fish cutouts with beginning sounds and pictures.  I attached magnets to the back of them and the kids fished for beginning sounds with a magnet fishing rod.  I got these from www.kidssoup.com

In my next post I will talk about our science works and Wacky Wednesday!!  I am linking up with What's on the tray Wednesday and living Montessori now and Homeschool Creations, Preschool corner and 5K too!

Montessori Monday, Math Madness!!

Montessori Monday Math Madness

Why and How?

This week for Montessori Monday I decided to write about Montessori Math.  I wanted to tell you why I LOVE Montessori Math and how it works.

Why?

Let me start off by saying that I am TER I BLE at math!!  I just didn’t get it.  I am incredibly visual and kinesthetic and if you said to me what is the square root of sixteen I would look at you with a puzzled face and say what kind of plant makes a square root? Yep, it is that bad!  Well let me tell you that I went to high school and college and did not truly understand math until I was completing my Montessori certification and I had to figure out what the square root of the pink tower was that I finally had my AH HA moment!  You know the one where the light turns on and everything seems glorious?!  I finally could visualize math and how it works.  It is amazing that I literally had to go back to preschool to learn, but that is what it took.  Now I do understand math and I am thrilled to give kids that glorious AH HA moment at such a young age! 

How?

Montessori math is completely concrete and hands on!  No boring drills and flashcards.  You start with the basics and build on it through mastery.  This week I am going to talk about steps one through three.

The first step is the sandpaper numbers and counters.  I always introduce these concepts simultaneously in order to reinforce one to one correspondence.  This is a fun math activity because you can add different themed counters all year long! 

Start this math work as a sensory activity.  Have the child trace the number and then repeat in different sensory materials such as sand, rice or shaving cream. 

After they trace and repeat have them count the number of items they have traced. Mix the numbers up to reinforce number recognition. 

The second step in the Montessori math process is the number rods.  The number rods are a versatile tool that will be used all the way into kindergarten and beyond.  You start very basic by counting the colors on the rods.  You will then combine the number rods and sandpaper numbers followed by red and blue patterns.  After the child can successfully count to higher numbers they can make a number rod maze!!  They LOVE this activity and repeat it often.  Finally the number rods will be used for addition and subtraction!  Talk about a fabulous concrete math tool!! 

Geometry is the third step of math that is covered in the Montessori curriculum.  Constructive triangles are a tool that can be hard for even adults to complete however, with proper training and building concentration children as young as three can accomplish this task and with great joy! 
Constructive triangles come in a wooden boxes with multiple triangles in different sizes with a larger triangle to use a self correcting tool.  The children must match the colors and the black lines to make a larger trianle.  This work gets progressively more difficult and requires a great deal of concentration to complete. 

Never underestimate the mind of a young child.  It is truly an amazing thing!  They are an empty vessel and it is our job to fill them up!  Happy Montessori Math Madness day!  I am linking up with www.livingmontessorinow.com for Montessori Monday!  

Rachel